After a dominant first game, the ever-inconsistent Derrick Rose slumped to a 6-of-20 shooting night, while Jimmy Butler looked exhausted from the effort of having to check a refocused LeBron James.
The Bulls shot just 40.5 percent for the game, and never seemed interested in getting themselves back into it. Butler posted career highs nearly across the board, averaging 20 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals on a True Shooting Percentage of 58.3.
After trailing from start to finish in an ugly Game 1, they repaid the Bulls with a wire-to-wire win of their own, leveling the Eastern Conference semifinal with a 106-91 decision. With Tristan Thompson inserted into the starting lineup in place of Mike Miller (a disaster in Game 1), the Cavs served notice right away that they were going to be a different team.
Late in the second quarter of what was a dominant first half for his Cavaliers in Game 2, James exploded past Jimmy Butler, drove in a straight line towards the hoop and rose up for this dunk that he only finished once his body had already sailed past the backboard.
Thompson hit frontcourt mate Timofey Mozgov with a high-low feed at the six-minute mark of the first quarter to put Cleveland up 10, and, from that point on, the Bulls never got the deficit back down to single digits. The Cavs dominated from opening tip to final buzzer, and momentum never once changed hands.
By the end of the first quarter, the Cavs were up 20, and the romp was on.
.jpg)
Post a Comment